There was once upon a time a poor miller1 who had a
very beautiful daughter. Now it happened one day that he had an audience with
the King, and in order to appear a person of some importance he told him that
he had a daughter who could spin straw into gold. "Now that's a talent
worth having," said the King to the miller; "if your daughter is as
clever as you say, bring her to my palace to-morrow, and I'll put her to the
test." When the girl was brought to him he led her into a room full of
straw, gave her a spinning-wheel and spindle, and said: "Now set to work
and spin all night till early dawn, and if by that time you haven't spun the
straw into gold you shall die." Then he closed the door behind him and
left her alone inside.
So the poor miller's
daughter sat down, and didn't know what in the world she was to do. She hadn't
the least idea of how to spin straw into gold, and became at last so miserable
that she began to cry. Suddenly the door opened, and in stepped a tiny little
man and said: "Good-evening, Miss Miller-maid; why are you crying so
bitterly?" "Oh!" answered the girl, "I have to spin straw
into gold, and haven't a notion how it's done." "What will you give
me if I spin it for you?" asked the manikin. "My necklace,"
replied the girl. The little man took the necklace, sat himself down at the
wheel, and whir, whir, whir, the wheel went round three times, and the bobbin
was full. Then he put on another, and whir, whir, whir, the wheel went round
three times, and the second too was full; and so it went on till the morning,
when all the straw was spun away, and all the bobbins were full of gold. As
soon as the sun rose the King came, and when he perceived the gold he was
astonished and delighted, but his heart only lusted more than ever after the
precious metal. He had the miller's daughter put into another room full of
straw, much bigger than the first, and bade her, if she valued her life, spin
it all into gold before the following morning. The girl didn't know what to do,
and began to cry; then the door opened as before, and the tiny little man
appeared and said: "What'll you give me if I spin the straw into gold for
you?" "The ring from my finger," answered the girl. The manikin
took the ring, and whir! round went the spinning-wheel again, and when morning
broke he had spun all the straw into glittering gold. The King was pleased
beyond measure at the sights but his greed for gold was still not satisfied,
and he had the miller's daughter brought into a yet bigger room full of straw,
and said: "You must spin all this away in the night; but if you succeed
this time you shall become my wife." "She's only a miller's daughter,
it's true," he thought; "but I couldn't find a richer wife if I were
to search the whole world over." When the girl was alone the little man
appeared for the third time, and said: "What'll you give me if I spin the
straw for you once again?" "I've nothing more to give," answered
the girl. "Then promise me when you are Queen to give me your first child."
"Who knows what may not happen before that?" thought the miller's
daughter; and besides, she saw no other way out of it, so she promised the
manikin what he demanded, and he set to work once more and spun the straw into
gold. When the King came in the morning, and found everything as he had
desired, he straightway made her his wife, and the miller's daughter became a
queen.
When a year had
passed a beautiful son was born to her, and she thought no more of the little
man, till all of a sudden one day he stepped into her room and said: "Now
give me what you promised." The Queen was in a great state, and offered
the little man all the riches in her kingdom if he would only leave her the
child. But the manikin said: "No, a living creature is dearer to me than
all the treasures in the world." Then the Queen began to cry and sob so
bitterly that the little man was sorry for her, and said: "I'll give you
three days to guess my name, and if you find it out in that time you may keep
your child."
Then the Queen pondered the whole night over all
the names she had ever heard, and sent a messenger to scour the land, and to
pick up far and near any names he could come across. When the little man
arrived on the following day she began with Kasper, Melchior, Belshazzar, and
all the other names she knew, in a string, but at each one the manikin called
out: "That's not my name." The next day she sent to inquire the names
of all the people in the neighborhood, and had a long list of the most uncommon
and extraordinary for the little man when he made his appearance. "Is your
name, perhaps, Sheepshanks Cruickshanks, Spindleshanks?" but he always
replied: "That's not my name." On the third day the messenger
returned and announced: "I have not been able to find any new names, but
as I came upon a high hill round the corner of the wood, where the foxes and
hares bid each other good night, I saw a little house, and in front of the
house burned a fire, and round the fire sprang the most grotesque little man, hopping
on one leg and crying:
"To-morrow I
brew, to-day I bake,
And then the child
away I'll take;
For little deems
my royal dame
That
Rumpelstiltskin is my name!"
You may imagine the Queen's delight at hearing the
name, and when the little man stepped in shortly afterward and asked:
"Now, my lady Queen, what's my name?" she asked first: "Is your
name Conrad?" "No." "Is your name Harry?"
"No." "Is your name perhaps, Rumpelstiltskin?" "Some
demon has told you that, some demon has told you that!" screamed the
little man, and in his rage drove his right foot so far into the ground that it
sank in up to his waist; then in a passion he seized the left foot with both hands
and tore himself in two.
No comments:
Post a Comment